At least 42 civilians have been killed and 104 wounded in Afghanistan in fighting with Pakistan between 26 February and 2 March, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Tuesday, as clashes between the two neighbours continued for a sixth day.
“The civilian casualties include those caused by indirect fire in cross-border clashes…as well as those caused by airstrikes,” the UN agency said, adding that the numbers were “preliminary”.
UNAMA called for a halt to the fighting and warned that the violence, which has displaced an estimated 16,400 households, has worsened the situation of Afghanistan’s people who were still recovering from successive earthquakes in August and September that killed more than 1,400 people.
“Restrictions on movements in the border area due to the active conflict have reduced the capacity of humanitarian agencies and partners to deliver life-saving and other assistance in the most-affected areas,” UNAMA said.
The latest conflict, described as the worst between the two countries in years, was sparked last week after Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said they carried out retaliatory strikes on Pakistani positions in response to what they described as Pakistan’s targeting of civilians, an allegation Islamabad has denied.
Pakistan has launched air-to-ground missile strikes on what it says are Taliban military sites over the past week and, for the first time, has directly targeted positions linked to the Taliban government, accusing it of harbouring militants who carry out attacks on Pakistan from Afghan soil.